One devastated resident of the Grenfell Tower block told neighbours that he believed the cause of the fire had originated in his apartment. The fire in west London engulfed almost the entirety of the 24-storey building, with 74 people in five hospitals around the capital and at least six deaths confirmed by police.

Witnesses described hearing the distressed man admit that a faulty fridge in his flat sparked the blaze. Samira Lamrani, 38, who lives nearby said: “I saw a very small fire to begin with and a gentleman at the bottom gesturing saying his refrigerator had exploded and then the fire spread really rapidly. People were appearing at their windows trying to smack them but apparently they are double glazed windows they were not able to break them and there’s a safety latch so they weren’t able to open them.

Samira, who lives nearby, added: “He was just beside himself. He was just as surprised at how quickly the fire spread as anybody else. I could hear him saying that he contacted the emergency services immediately and they reassured him everything would be under control within a short period of time, and obviously it wasn’t.” She said she believed the fire had started on the second floor.